Admiral FitzRoy type Barometer, 1876-1884

Admiral FitzRoy type Barometer, 1876-1884 Admiral FitzRoy type Barometer, 1876-1884 Admiral FitzRoy type Barometer, 1876-1884 Admiral Fitzroy's Storm Barometer Admiral Fitzroy's Storm Barometer

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum, London

Admiral Fitzroy's Storm Barometer
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Admiral Fitzroy's Storm Barometer
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Admiral FitzRoy (patent) storm barometer, by Negretti & Zambra, London, England, 1876-1884. Fitted with dry and wet mercury thermometers and ordinary mercury thermometer, serial no. 1265.

Robert FitzRoy founded the Meteorological Office – the UK’s weather service – under the government’s Board of Trade in 1854. A devastating hurricane wrecked the steam clipper S.S. Royal Charter in 1859, and FitzRoy believed that the storm could have been predicted and the disaster avoided. This prompted the Meteorological Office to start issuing storm warnings: the beginning of the nation’s weather forecasting service. While this barometer is titled a ‘Storm Barometer’, it is a type designed for domestic use and was made after FitzRoy’s death. It carries inscribed rules, drawn in part from the weather lore of farmers, shepherds and sailors, for foretelling future weather based on observed conditions.

Details

Category:
Meteorology
Object Number:
1962-155
Materials:
oak (wood), glass, brass (copper, zinc alloy), mercury, enamel and textile
Measurements:
overall: 1030 mm x 220 mm x 90 mm, 6.1kg
type:
mercury barometer